10 Things Any Pastor Can Do to Increase Generosity

The number one reason why churches do not see increases in giving is the disconnected pastor.  There is a multitude of reasons why this is true. Frankly, our colleges and seminaries do a poor job of training pastors in this field. Most pastors have limited experience outside of the Church and thus have very little experience in financial matters. On top of this, there is an unwritten rule that finances are simply none of the pastors business. With all this as a background, I am not surprised that pastors have been disconnected from the process. When the leader of a church, the pastor, is disconnected from building generosity it is rare if anyone else in the church is connected. The sad reality in the vast majority of churches is that no one owns generosity. Is it any wonder giving is a challenge?

In over twenty years in the stewardship ministry, I have found that when no one at the church owns stewardship,  

• Generosity seldom if ever gets mentioned.  
• There is never a plan of action that leads to increases in giving and giving units. And, most important of all,
• Giving will almost always decline!

COVID19 has served as a call to wake up!  Pastor, you cannot afford to be disconnected from building generosity and stewardship at your church. If you don’t have a plan for stewardship you are really planning on failure!

Here are my goals for you as a pastor, first that you would assume your responsibility as the lead fundraiser of your church.  In other words, own it!  If you don’t no one else will.

Secondly, spend some time EVERY week working on stewardship!  We find time to what we value.  What if you carved out 10% of your week to spend on stewardship?  You would be far ahead of your peers who spend zero amount of time in stewardship.  Here is a list of things that I would recommend you do…

My 10 Things Any Pastor Can Do to Increase Generosity – Here is a practical list of 10 things you can do now to become connected to the process of increasing giving and givers.

1. Every week review the offering results from the weekend.  Compare it to last week, last month, last quarter and last year.
2. Spend at least 30 minutes a week thinking about what to say before the offering.  You spend hours on the sermon why not spend a few minutes creatively thinking about setting up the offering. You can get help in this by subscribing to my newsletter, “The Stewardship Coach,” that each week contains a ready to present offering talk. Find out how to subscribe here, https://acts17generosity.com/memberships/silver/
3. Write a few notes each week to donors thanking them for their generosity and support of the church.
4. Go to lunch with a top donor at least once a week or at a minimum once every other week.
5. Read at least one book on stewardship a quarter.
6. Find a few blogs, like this one, that focuses on stewardship and regularly read them each week.
7. Read the business section of your newspaper every day so that you can be abreast of what is happening in the economy.
8. If you have a staff at least once a month in staff meetings talk for 30 minutes about how to improve offerings.
9. Pray for God’s financial blessings upon all your members.  Some politicians might not believe in trickle-down economics but as a pastor, you better know that if your small business people don’t do well the offering will be lower!
10. Pray that God will increase giving at your church!  I would make this a regular part of my prayer time.  Plans are great but unless the Lord builds the house we labor in vain.  Don’t lose sight of the spiritual!

Doing the above will better help you avoid declines in giving.  Who owns stewardship at your church?  It is time you did!

Mark Brooks- The Stewardship Coach

@StewardshipMan

I coach pastors in what they need to know and do to increase giving and givers. Join my team and get the coaching you need to keep you connected to the generosity journey required to put your church on the path to financial security. Find out more here, https://acts17generosity.com/memberships/